How to Choose Your Specialty

Now that I am getting ready to start my fourth year, I am thinking about what specialty I have been interested in so that I can apply for residency positions once the application cycle starts. Fortunately, I have always known what specialty I am interested in even before applying to medical school. Given my interest in women’s health, primary care, and surgery I knew the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology would be perfect. However, I still kept an open mind during my third year because I wanted to really experience each specialty that I did rotations in without pre-set judgments. But what are some ways to choose your specialty if you had no idea of one coming into medical school?

One of the best pieces of advice that I got from a mentor was to go into each specialty rotation as if you were going to do that for the rest of your life. Then after the fact make a spreadsheet and write down your feelings about the patients, hours, working style, etc. so that you can refer to it after your third year. Once you have finished your third year you can look through your notes and weight the pros/cons to better help you decide which specialty you would consider applying to. There are also a variety of quizzes and many students also meet with their advisors to discuss any questions they have regarding different specialties.

How did you choose your current specialty? Comment down below!

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Kimia

MS3 at A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine

Kimia is entering her third year of medical school as a dual degree DO/MPH student. She is passionate about helping underserved communities facing health disparities specifically in California’s very own Central Valley. During her free time Kimia enjoys volunteering, spending time with her loved ones, and traveling. She loves dogs and hopes to adopt once she is settled down after residency!

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